Cloth $135.00ISBN: 9780708325469
Published
January 2013
For sale in North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand only

This is a unique and timely survey of the evolving priorities of the British welfare state since its inception in the late 1940s, with an emphasis on how current and future aims and features of welfare provision compare with the ambitions of its original architects. In this book, fifteen commentators, including prominent academic experts in the field as well as members of think tanks, charities, and campaigning organizations explore themes such as health, education, housing, gender, disability, and ethnic diversity. The result is a rich, critical, and thought-provoking exploration of the legacy and prospects of the welfare state that will appeal to anyone with an interest in how a modern society should meet the needs of its citizens.

Part 1: The ‘five giants’1. Want: ‘What the British people desire’: the rise and fall of insurance-based social security Peter Kenway2. Disease: Social Democracy, health inequalities and the welfare state Michael Sullivan3. Ignorance: Combating ignorance: education, social opportunity and citizenship in Wales Gareth Rees4. Squalor: Shifting boundaries: people, homes and the state since 1945 John Puzey5. Idleness: ‘No longer a problem of industry’? Principles, practice and policy in the early twenty-first century David ByrnePart 2: Five challenges6. Gender: Continuity and change: gender and welfare Sandra Shaw7. Race: A very ‘British’ welfare state? ‘Race’ and racism Charlotte Williams8. Disability: What rights for disabled people in a welfare state? Need-fulfilment versus identity-assertion and the ‘problem of dependency’ Steven R. Smith9. Devolution: Devolution and the welfare state: the case of Wales Mark Drakeford10. The start and end of lifePart 1: The welfare of children since 1948 Ian ButlerPart 2: The welfare of older people since 1948 Liz LloydConclusion: Taking Stock Victoria Winckler

ReferencesIndex

Review Quotes

Ruth Lister, Loughborough University

“A valuable, wide-ranging assessment of where Beveridge’s welfare state stands in the early years of the twenty-first century. . . . [It will be] of interest to both students of social policy and a wider readership.”

Fran Bennett, University of Oxford

“The authors cast a committed but critical eye over the past performance of the British welfare state in relation to Beveridge’s ‘5 Giants’ over the seventy years since his 1942 report, and examine current issues that are key to its future. The combination of its grounding in the specific context of Wales on the one hand and its wide range of topics on the other gives this volume a unique and valuable perspective.”

For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu